A method of forming a structure for a gyroscope sensor includes forming a first dielectric over a substrate and a material layer over the first dielectric layer. A first portion of the material layer is removed to form a recess and a second portion of the material layer is removed to define a first channel between a gyro disk and a frame. A second channel is formed in the substrate corresponding to the first channel, and a portion of the first dielectric is removed to form a second dielectric between the gyro disk and the substrate.
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1. A method of forming a structure for a gyroscope sensor, the method comprising:
forming a first dielectric over a substrate;
forming a material layer over the dielectric;
removing a first portion of the material layer to form a recess;
removing a second portion of the material layer to define a gyro disk surrounded by a frame, and a first channel between the gyro disk and the frame;
forming a second channel in the substrate corresponding to the first channel; and
removing a portion of the first dielectric to form a second dielectric between the gyro disk and the substrate.
20. A method of forming a gyroscope sensor, the method comprising:
forming a gyro disk structure, forming the gyro disk structure comprising:
forming a first dielectric over a substrate;
forming a material layer over the dielectric;
removing a first portion of the material layer to form a recess;
removing a second portion of the material layer to define a gyro disk surrounded by a frame, and a first channel between the gyro disk and the frame;
forming a second channel in the substrate corresponding to the first channel;
removing a portion of the first dielectric to form a second dielectric between the gyro disk and the substrate;
configuring a light source to provide a light beam through the first channel and the second channel; and
configuring a light receiver to receive the light beam.
14. A method of forming a gyroscope sensor, the method comprising:
forming a gyro disk structure, forming the gyro disk structure comprising:
forming a first dielectric over a substrate;
forming a material layer over the first dielectric;
removing a first portion of the material layer to form a recess, the recess comprising a first channel;
removing a second portion of the material layer to define a gyro disk surrounded by a frame, and a second channel between the gyro disk and the frame;
forming a third channel in the substrate corresponding to the second channel; and
removing a portion of the first dielectric to form a second dielectric between the gyro disk and the substrate;
configuring a first light source to provide a first light beam through the first channel or through the second channel and the third channel; and
configuring a first light receiver to receive the first light beam.
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if the first light source is configured to provide the first light beam through the second channel and the third channel, configuring a second light source to provide a second light beam through the first channel;
if the first light source is configured to provide the first light beam through the first channel, configuring a second light source to provide a second light beam through the second channel and the third channel; and
configuring a second light receiver to receive the second light beam.
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The instant application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/610,178, filed Sep. 11, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,776,600, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/352,449 filed Jan. 12, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,281,658, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
The present disclosure relates generally to the field of gyroscope sensors.
A micro-electrical mechanical system (MEMS) gyroscope is consisted of two masses that are movable with respect to a stator and coupled to one another so as to have a relative degree of freedom. The two movable masses are both capacitively coupled to the stator. One of the masses is dedicated to driving and is kept in oscillation at a resonance frequency. The other mass is drawn along in an oscillating motion and, in the case of rotation of the microstructure with respect to a pre-determined gyroscopic axis with an angular velocity, is subjected to a Coriolis force proportional to the angular velocity itself. In practice, the driven mass operates as an accelerometer that enables detection of the Coriolis force and acceleration and hence makes it possible to trace back to the angular velocity.
The present disclosure is best understood from the following detailed description when read with the accompanying figures. It is emphasized that, in accordance with the standard practice in the industry, various features are not drawn to scale and are used for illustration purposes only. In fact, the numbers and dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity of discussion.
The capacitive gyroscope described above has at least three subpixels for detecting the Coriolis force on each of three gyroscopic axes such as X, Y, and Z-axes. The three-subpixels gyroscope requires a diode area. Furthermore, structures for sensing Coriolis forces on different gyroscopic axes such as X and Z-axes are different due to the different configuration of capacitors of the capacitive gyroscope. Accordingly, a few number of mask layers are used to form the capacitive gyroscope.
From the foregoing, gyroscope sensors, systems including the gyroscope sensors, operating methods, and fabricating methods thereof are desired.
It is understood that the following disclosure provides many different embodiments, or examples, for implementing different features of the invention. Specific examples of components and arrangements are described below to simplify the present disclosure. These are, of course, merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. For example, the formation of a first feature over or on a second feature in the description that follows may include embodiments in which the first and second features are formed in direct contact, and may also include embodiments in which additional features may be formed between the first and second features, such that the first and second features may not be in direct contacted. In addition, the present disclosure may repeat reference numerals and/or letters in the various examples. This repetition is for the purpose of simplicity and clarity and does not in itself dictate a relationship between the various embodiments and/or configurations discussed.
Embodiments of the invention relate to gyroscope sensors, systems, and fabrication methods for forming structures for the gyroscope sensors by sensing an optical signal corresponding to a wave phase change of a light beam resulting from a Coriolis force. The gyroscope sensor can include a first light source configured to provide a first light beam adjacent to a first edge of the gyro disk. A first light receiver can be configured to receive the first light beam for sensing a vibration at a first direction of the gyro disk. Following are descriptions of various exemplary embodiments of the present invention. The scope of the invention is not limited thereto.
In embodiments, the gyroscope sensor 101 can include a gyro disk 110a, at least one light source such as light sources 130, 140, and 150, and at least one light receiver such as light receivers 155 and 160. The light source 130 can be configured to provide a light beam 131 adjacent to a first edge 109a of the gyro disk 110a. The light receiver 155 can be configured to receive the light beam 131 for sensing a vibration at a first direction such as a pre-determined gyroscopic X-axis of the gyro disk 110a. The light source 140 can be configured to provide a light beam 141 adjacent to a second edge 109b of the gyro disk 110a, wherein the light beam 141 can be substantially parallel with the light beam 131. The light receiver 155 can be configured to receive the light beam 141 for sensing a vibration at a second direction such as a pre-determined gyroscopic Y-axis of the gyro disk 110a. In embodiments, the light sources 130 and 140 can be disposed over a substrate 135. In other embodiments, the light sources 130 and 140 can be disposed on different substrates. The light source 150 can be configured to provide a light beam 151 adjacent to a surface 109c of the gyro disk 110a, wherein the light beam 151 is substantially perpendicular to the light beam 131. The light receiver 160 can be configured to receive the light beam 151 for sensing a vibration at a third direction such as a pre-determined gyroscopic Z-axis of the gyro disk 110a. It is noted that the configuration and numbers of the light sources and light receivers described above are merely exemplary. The scope of the invention is not limited thereto.
In embodiments, the gyro disk 110a can include at least one material such as silicon, germanium, other material that can have an etch selectivity different from that of the dielectric 120a, and/or any combinations thereof. In embodiments, the gyro disk 110a can have a top view shape such as round, oval, square, rectangular, or other suitable shape. The gyro disk 110a can include a portion 111 coupled with an electrode 165. The portion 111 can include at least one channel such as channels 111a as shown in
The light sources 130, 140, and/or 150 can be a laser diode, light emitting diode, infrared ray (IR) emitter, X-ray emitter, other light source, and/or combinations thereof. The light receivers 155 and/or 160 can include a sensor, optical sensor, complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor sensor, other sensor that is capable of receiving the light beam based on the wavelength of the light beam.
Referring to
Referring to
The gyroscope sensor 101 can include the frame 110b that can be disposed around the gyro disk 110a. The frame 110b can be separated from the substrate 102a by the dielectric 120a. The frame 110b can include at least one channel such as channels 175 as shown in
In
Referring to
In embodiments, the gyroscope sensor 101 can be assembled such that the light beams 131, 141, and 151 pass the channels 113, 111a, and 175 filled with air. In other embodiments, the gyroscope sensor 101 can be assembled and filled with an inert gas (e.g., nitrogen, noble gas, and/or combinations thereof) within the channels 113, 111a, and 175. In still other embodiments, the pressure within the gyroscope sensor 101 can be around several torrs, such as about 1 torr. One of skill in the art is able to select the inert gas and/or modify the pressure to achieve a desired gyroscope sensor.
Following are descriptions of exemplary operating methods for a system including a gyroscope sensor.
In
In embodiments, the system 100 such as a digital camera has the gyro disk 110a having a normal oscillating vibration at the gyroscopic X-axis. If the digital camera is subjected to an external force such as a handshaking, the gyroscopic Z-axis of the gyro disk 110a may be subjected to a counter-clockwise rotation as shown in
It is noted that the light source 130 and the light receiver 155 can monitor whether the gyro disk 110a is subjected to any Coriolis force during a regular oscillating vibration at the gyroscopic X-axis, the light source 140 and the light receiver 155 can monitor whether the gyro disk 110a is subjected to any Coriolis force during a regular oscillating vibration at the gyroscopic Y-axis, and the light source 150 and the light receiver 160 can monitor whether the gyro disk 110a is subjected to any Coriolis force during a regular oscillating vibration at the gyroscopic Z-axis. In embodiments, the light sources 130, 150 and the light receivers 155, 160 can cooperate to monitor any Coriolis force for the gyroscopic X-axis and gyroscopic Z-axis resonances in a subpixel 101a (shown in
Referring to
In
In
In
In
Referring to
Referring to
After the formation of the structure shown in
It is noted that the structure (shown in
In some embodiments, a method of forming a structure for a gyroscope sensor includes forming a first dielectric over a substrate and a material layer over the first dielectric layer. A first portion of the material layer is removed to form a recess and a second portion of the material layer is removed to define a first channel between a gyro disk and a frame. A second channel is formed in the substrate corresponding to the first channel, and a portion of the first dielectric is removed to form a second dielectric between the gyro disk and the substrate.
In some embodiments, a method of forming a gyroscope sensor includes forming a gyro disk structure. Forming the gyro disk structure includes forming a first dielectric over a substrate, forming a material layer over the dielectric, removing a first portion of the material layer to form a recess, the recess comprising a first channel, removing a second portion of the material layer to define a second channel between a gyro disk and a frame, and removing a portion of the first dielectric to form a second dielectric between the gyro disk and the substrate. Forming the gyroscope sensor also includes configuring a first light source to provide a first light beam through a first one of the first channel or the second channel, and configuring a first light receiver to receive the first light beam.
In some embodiments, a method of forming a gyroscope sensor includes forming a first gyro disk spaced from a first frame by a first light channel. The first light channel is capable of providing a first path for a first light beam that is capable of being sensed for determining movement of the first gyro disk in a first direction. The method also includes forming a second light channel within the first gyro disk. The second light channel is capable of providing a second path for a second light beam which is capable of being sensed for determining movement of the first gyro disk in a second direction, wherein the second direction is different from the first direction. The method also includes forming a second gyro disk spaced from a second frame by a third light channel. The third light channel is capable of providing a third path for a third light beam that is capable of being sensed for determining movement of the second gyro disk in a third direction, wherein the third direction is different from the first direction and the second direction.
The foregoing outlines features of several embodiments so that those skilled in the art may better understand the aspects of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they may readily use the present disclosure as a basis for designing or modifying other processes and structures for carrying out the same purposes and/or achieving the same advantages of the embodiments introduced herein. Those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, and that they may make various changes, substitutions, and alterations herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.
Peng, Jung-Huei, Tsai, Shang-Ying, Cheng, Chun-Ren, Wu, Ting-Hau, Lee, Jiou-Kang
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